Machu Picchu!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have been very busy! The end of last week was nice-Spanish lessons were good and so was my work at the orphanage. The girls love love love playing cards and we did that some more. Thursday was kind of an odd day because it was visiting day for the girls families. As far as I know, a lot of the girls at the orphanage were abused when they were younger and that is part of the reason they are at the orphanage. Family members are allowed to visit them on these days. On Friday the girls had to do their laundry and I helped them with that for a while. They do it the old-fashioned way- they clean and scrub their clothes in buckets of water and then hang then out to dry. Last week I also joined a gym!! I joined with Maria Elena my housemother and Heather my roommate. Heather and I were the only gringos(white people) there and it was a little awkward at first. But we got a personal trainer who showed us how to use of the machines. And guess who else was there working out at the same time as us? The Cusco mens soccer team! So we worked out with the Cusco soccer team. How cool is that?! I also took a spin class and it was awesome. Its such a great workout and a lot of fun. I want to do it when I get back to the states. On Thursday night Madison, Heather, and I had a movie night and ate desserts while watching The Notebook. Friday was Madison's last night so we went out around Plaza de Armas.
Saturday morning I left for Machu Picchu. I went with three other volunteers- Jamie and Savannah two sisters and a guy named Dan. We planned our trip through a travel agency who took care of the transportation, hostel stay, and tickets to MP.  We took an hour and half taxi ride to the train station. Then we had an hour and a half train ride. The train ride was really beautiful and it was a pleasant ride. We sat across from a few guys from Argentina and became friends with them. That is one of the things I'm really enjoying about this trip- meeting so may new people from all over the world. I have met cool people from Chile, Argentina, Australia,etc... And of course a lot of awesome local people! When we arrived in Aguas Calientes(the town closest to MP) we went to our hostel to put away our stuff. The hostel was actually decent- we had our own bathroom and they gave us breakfast. We then went out and explored the town and got lunch. The food was on the pricey side, and it wasn't even that good. I actually really liked Aguas Calientes. A lot of people said they really hate it, but I thought it was nice. I wouldn't want to spend more then a few days there tho. In the afternoon we went to the hot springs. They were really dirty but I'm still glad we went. It was a good experience and  kind of relaxing. On Sunday morning we woke up at 5:30 and took a 30 min bus ride to MP from the town. I was amazed by the surrounding mountains they were so beautiful. MP is really cool because its tropical. So there were so many awesome plants and it was a lot warmer(I could wear shorts!). But I was even more amazed when I saw MP itself. It's like nothing I have ever seen before. Pictures do not do it justice. If you get a chance to go, it is so worth it. We got a two hour tour of MP and I learned a lot about the Inca culture. We also had some free time to explore and I petted a lama and got a picture with one:) After the tour we went hiking. Jamie and Savannah had tickets to hike Wayni Picchu the famous hiking mountain in MP... but Dan and I weren't able to get tickets in time so we hiked Machu Picchu mountain instead. This is a harder hike then Wayni Picchu and takes more time. It is supposed to take two hours up and two hours down, but we did it a lot faster. We did it in an hour and 20 min up and 45 is min down.  It was a hard hike because the path went straight up. The views were amazing and I felt very accomplished when I made it to the top. After MP we went back to town to get dinner and then took the train and a bus back to Cusco. It was such a fun weekend and MP was amazing.

Today I had a ton of fun at the orphanage. We played a lot of volleyball and I taught the girls how to spike the ball. They then set me and I got to practice my hitting too which was nice. They were all very impressed with it aha. After volleyball I taught them karate. There were about 20 girls this time, and some of them were knew so we reviewed some basic kicks, punches, and blocks. Then we did some safety. I talked about using eyes-eyes-eyes, palm-palm-palm, kick-kick-kick. And then they practiced on the pad. It is very challenging teaching them karate because of the language barrier. I often don't know how to correct them because I don't know how to say it in Spanish. But I figure as long as they are getting the basics thats all that really matters. I took some videos and pictures today and will try to upload them. Here is the link to the videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_VUVgOpdn-NJueN85XeYA

I'm having such an amazing time in Peru. I love it here so much, and I'm not going to want to go home. A few more volunteers arrived this weekend which is nice. Two girls, one from Paris and the other from the UK are staying in the same house as me. They are both  in their early twenties and really nice. I think it will be nice to have them because its more people to hang out with and go out with. There are also three other volunteers staying in a house nearby. They go to the same Spanish school as me, but have a different teacher. Hopefully we will be able to take a taxi together. Tomorrow Walter(my Spanish teacher) and I will go to the Chocolate Museum because Marion will not be there. I'm really excited to learn about how the chocolate here is made and of course to sample some Peruvian chocolate.  This Thursday night Heather and I will leave for Colca Canyon!! I'm really excited for this trip, its going to be awesome!